


Holiday Traditions

by mlea7675



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Christmas, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Hanukkah, Holidays, Traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:48:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28137201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlea7675/pseuds/mlea7675
Summary: Set in the winter of 2015, with flashbacks to the winter of 2006. Josh and Donna share in each other’s holiday traditions for the first time-and later, with their children.
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	1. A Festival Of Lights

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This mini-story is based on a Tumblr prompt from a while ago: “Person A celebrates Christmas while Person B celebrates Hanukkah. They each show each other their different traditions for each holiday.” I did switch it a little, because I wanted to publish this in time for the end of Hanukkah. Hope I got this chapter right-I actually only celebrate Christmas, but I did a lot of research. Hope you enjoy, please read and review!

Chapter 1: A Festival of Lights 

It was December 6 during the first winter since President Santos had left office, and it was again time to celebrate the eight-day festival of lights known as Hanukkah. 

Donna was running around, trying to get the house cleaned up before Toby, Huck, and Molly came over. It was a bit of a tradition that the three of them (and sometimes Andy, if she didn’t have to work late) would join the Lymans for the first night of Hanukkah. The tradition had fallen by the wayside for a couple of years, but this year Huck was adamant that they pick it back up. Some things in life should stay the same, he said. The twins were getting older, after all. Soon, they would be bored with it. Huck also thought that both he and Molly should have more exposure to their faith if they were going to be Bar and Bat Mitzvahed the next year. Finally, Toby agreed. 

It was also a tradition that Josh’s mother Rachel would fly up from Florida to stay with the family during the holiday and help Josh honor his heritage. In fact, Josh had gone to pick up his mother from the airport. 

Donna put the box containing their menorah, candles, and other decorations on the table. She pulled out the blue tablecloth she had bought on a whim for their first Hanukkah together, and laid that out on the kitchen table where they would eat. Smiling, she put out the latkes she had made for dinner (among other things) on the table. 

Next, she pulled out a carved wooden box. She opened it to reveal the dreidel that had been a part of the Lyman family’s Hanukkah traditions since Josh was a little boy: Rachel had gifted him with it on the couple’s first Hanukkah together. She put that out on the table and quickly found the bag of gelt she had bought to go with it. She thought that her twins and the Ziegler twins would have fun playing together. Matty was still too little to really understand the game, and Leo was only just beginning to grasp the holiday itself. 

Suddenly, she heard feet running down the stairs. She turned around to find Abby and Anna running into the room, dressed for the evening’s festivities. 

“Hey, girls.” she greeted. “You both look very pretty.” 

“Thank you.” Abby said. 

Anna nodded in agreement. “Is Bubbe here yet?” They saw their father’s mother far more often than they saw their mother’s parents, and loved their grandmother with a passion. 

“No, not yet.” Donna said, looking over to the door. She turned back to the box. “Do you want to help Mommy try to find the menorah?” 

Both girls nodded eagerly and began looking through the box. Matty joined them after a minute and began to help. Suddenly, Anna looked up, lost in thought. “Mommy?” 

“Yeah, sweetie?” 

“You didn’t celebrate Hanukkah when you were little, right?” 

Donna smiled. “No, I celebrated Christmas, remember? But when your dad and I got married and had you two and your brothers, we wanted to make sure you knew the best things about both our religions, so that when you get older,” She pulled Anna closer, kissing her cheek, “you can decide for yourselves what you want to celebrate.” 

Anna nodded, seeming to understand. “Then when did you first celebrate Hanukkah?” Matty and Abby looked up, tuned into the conversation. 

Donna looked at her kids, smiling as they crowded closer to her. “Well, it was a long time ago, before you kids were even born. Daddy and I had only been dating for about a month, but we had known each other for a long time, and I thought it would be a good idea to do something anyway…” 

_ Mid-December 2006:  _

_ It was a few nights before the first night of Hanukkah, and Donna was working at her desk. She and Josh had returned from their Hawaiian vacation two weeks before. She had formally started her job as the incoming First Lady’s Chief of Staff, but was also spending a lot of time routing questions about the confirmations of the new Cabinet, not to mention Eric Baker as VP, to the newly hired Press Secretary, Bram Howard.  _

_ Suddenly, as she was filling out her calendar, the word “Hanukkah” on December 15 seemed to jump out at her. Hanukkah, she thought. She knew a little bit about the holiday from Toby and Josh, and while she had been working for Josh, had always left a small gift for him on his desk on the first night, just as he would give her Christmas gifts. But, now that they were dating, she felt a pull to pull together something a little more significant. She got up and walked towards Josh’s office.  _

_ He looked up, and a grin lit up his face as she leaned against the doorway. “Hey.”  _

_ “Hi.” She smiled.  _

_ “I’m not gonna be done for a while.” He said, smiling apologetically. “You can go home without me, if you want.” Since they had come back from Hawaii, Donna had officially-or unofficially, she wasn’t sure which-moved in with Josh.  _

_ “Okay.” Donna replied. “Hey, did you know Hanukkah starts in a few days?”  _

_ Josh looked up. His deer-in-headlights expression was the only answer Donna needed to her question. “You forgot, didn’t you?” She asked. “It’s okay. With the Transition, I don’t blame you.”  _

_ “No, I just…” Josh laughed a little, running his hand through his hair. “I actually haven’t really, you know, observed it in a while.”  _

_ “How long a while?” Donna asked.  _

_ “You know, since...well, since I graduated high school.” Suddenly, Josh was lost in thought. He hadn’t really observed it since he had been on his own. He had gone to a couple menorah lightings at college, and a few times with his mother before he started at the White House. “Definitely not since I started working at the White House.” Now, the thoughts were turning in his head. “Why do you ask?”  _

_ “No, nothing. I just thought you might like to do something to celebrate. Even if it’s just the two of us in the apartment.”  _

_ Josh stood up, making eye contact with her. “I’d kinda like that.” he admitted shyly.  _

_ Donna was surprised. “Really?”  _

_ “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the last couple of weeks, about really starting my life over, having a plan. And one of those things was really making sure my kids know their heritage, you know? That would’ve been…” He sighed. “That would’ve been really important to my dad.”  _

_ “Josh, that’s really sweet.” Donna said. “Then, why don’t we start in a few days. You can teach me about Hanukkah, Passover, everything. I wanna know all of it.”  _

_ “Really?” Josh said.  _

_ “Yeah.”  _

_ “On one condition.”  _

_ “Okay.”  _

_ “You teach me all about your family’s traditions. Easter, Christmas, the whole deal. When we have kids, I want them to know all of it.”  _

_ “Deal.” Donna had an ear-splitting grin. Then, something Josh said struck her. “You said, ‘When we have kids.’”  _

_ Josh nodded, avoiding eye contact slightly. “Yeah, I did.” He hadn’t meant to say all that, and now he worried he had scared her off.  _

_ “You want to have kids with me?”  _

_ Josh walked over and took her hands, looking her in the eye. “Yeah, I do.” His voice was serious and quiet. “I want us to have a family, Donna. And I want you to know that this thing we’re doing, I’m in. I am all in.”  _

_ Donna smiled through her tears. “Okay.”  _

_ …  _

_ Three nights later, they had found a decently-priced menorah at Pottery Barn of all places, and Josh was taking great delight in teaching Donna all about the different traditions and what they symbolized.  _

_ “So, we cook the food in fried oil to symbolize the miracle of the temple.” Josh told her as his mother flipped latkes at the stove. When Josh had called his mother to tell her he was observing Hanukkah for the first time in years, and this time with Donna, Rachel had been eager to jump on a plane and celebrate with them.  _

_ “The oil lasting for eight days?” Donna confirmed. She was well-familiar with this part of the story by now, but she wanted to be sure.  _

_ “Good memory!” Josh praised her.  _

_ “Hey, it’s pretty easy to remember.” She bantered back.  _

_ Rachel only smiled as she put the plate between them at the table. She had long given up on her son finding happiness, so to see that the true joy and companionship he had found with Donna was a true miracle in her eyes. She nodded to the wrapped wooden box on the table. “That’s a Hanukkah gift for the pair of you.”  _

_ “It is?” Donna asked. Rachel nodded for Donna to go ahead and unwrap it. Josh helped her peel back the paper on a beautiful wooden box.  _

_ “Open it.” Rachel told her son softly. He did so, and lifted out a wooden dreidel.  _

_ He got choked up. “Is this…”  _

_ “Yes.” Rachel replied. She turned to Donna. “That dreidel has been in our family for two or three generations. Josh and Joanie would play with it for hours.”  _

_ “And she would beat me, too.” Josh remembered, laughing aloud and surprising himself with how little the memories of Joanie seemed to hurt. Remembering his sister was no longer a bitterly painful act, but a bittersweet one.  _

_ Donna had tears in her eyes as Rachel said, “I wanted you two to have it for your own family one day.”  _

_ “Thank you.” Donna said, hugging the older woman. “Now,” she said, turning to Josh, “you’re gonna have to teach me what all these carvings mean.”  _

_ Josh laughed lightly, then took the dreidel in his hands and began pointing each one out. “So, the entire Hebrew phrase means, ‘A great miracle happened there.’ ‘There’ being the temple at Jerusalem. Now, there are four different sides, and each letter that you land on means something different…”  _

_ …  _

Donna was interrupted in her thoughts by the door opening, and her children yelling, “Bubbe!”, running to greet their grandmother. 

She stood up and walked into the entry hall, greeting her mother-in-law with a kiss. “We’re so glad you could join us!” 

“I’m glad to be here, Donna.” Rachel said. Just then, they were interrupted by the doorbell ringing, which woke two-year-old Leo, napping upstairs. 

“Oh, God.” Donna sighed as he began to wail, torn between comforting her startled youngest son and answering the door. 

“Honey, I got him.” Josh said, kissing her quickly and jogging up the stairs, allowing Donna to answer the door for Toby, Huck, and Molly, who looked cold. 

“Hey, guys!” She greeted brightly. “Come on in.” 

“Did we come at a bad time?” Molly asked a bit awkwardly. She was the more sensitive of the two, far more attuned to the chaos in the entry hall. 

“No, not at all!” Donna said. “Can I grab your coats, get you guys anything to eat or drink?” They all began to walk into the living room, where Matty had pulled out the menorah. 

“Mommy, look, I found it!” 

“Thank you, Matty!” Donna said, kissing her son. “You want to help Mommy set it up?” 

Matty nodded eagerly. 

“Can we help, too?” Abby said. 

“Absolutely!” 

An hour later, things had calmed down, and dinner was underway. Huck and Molly had played several rounds of dreidel with the twins and Matty, teaching them the game. Leo watched, occasionally grabbing the chocolate gelt from the table. They sat around the table, passing around the food, talking and laughing. Then, Josh, Rachel, and Toby took turns telling the kids the Hanukkah story. Huck and Molly had heard it many times before, but they listened intently. 

Finally, after dinner was finished, they all walked into the living room, where the brass menorah that had been lit every year since 2006 stood proudly. The twins and Matty went up to the front of the group, while Huck and Molly stood off to the side. Toby and Josh stood on the other side, while Donna held Leo and stood with Rachel behind the kids. 

Toby beckoned Huck forward. “Didn’t you say something about wanting to help light the candles this year?” 

Huck lit up. “I can still do that?” 

Toby nodded. “Go ahead.” 

Huck pointed to the candle on the far right, intending on passing on his knowledge to the younger generation. “Do you three remember what this candle is called? It’s a special candle, remember?” 

“I do! I do!” Matty said. “It’s the sh-the sh-” 

“The  _ shamash _ .” Anna answered for her brother. 

“Very good, sweetheart.” Josh praised her. Anna puffed up with pride. 

Toby lit the  _ shamash  _ candle, then handed it to Huck. Huck looked nervous, but managed with minimal help to light the first candle aglow. 

Donna smiled at Josh, nodding at him to read the blessings. As he and Toby chanted, the group watched wordlessly. Donna was so glad that she had made the suggestion to Josh to celebrate Hanukkah all those years ago. To pass those traditions along meant a lot to him-and to her. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here’s the second and final installment! I actually incorporated a couple of my own family’s traditions, such as watching a movie on Christmas Eve. I hope you enjoy, please read and review! 

Chapter 2: It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year 

Right around the time that Josh and Donna gathered their family together to celebrate Hanukkah, they began to make preparations to celebrate Christmas as a family of six-complete with decorating the Christmas tree, taking a Christmas photo, and spending Christmas Eve in front of the fire watching a Christmas movie. But their first Christmas tradition began even earlier-when Josh and Donna took the kids out to a Christmas tree lot the week after Thanksgiving to pick out a tree. 

“You know, we could always buy an artificial tree.” Josh said as they walked across the gravel parking lot, looking at all the different trees. The twins were running ahead, Donna was carrying Leo, and Matty held tightly to Josh’s hand as he maneuvered across the road. 

Donna laughed in disbelief. “An artificial tree?” 

“You know, one that we can assemble ourselves instead of struggling to fit it through the door.” 

“Josh, you’re missing the point.” Donna rolled her eyes. They had this same conversation every single year-talk about tradition. 

“And that point would be?” 

“That getting a real tree is part of what makes Christmas...Christmas. At least for me. My dad and I would always go out every year and pick out a tree together, and then we’d bring it home and decorate it.” 

Josh smiled, pulling his wife closer. “I know this is important to you. You know I love you, I just like giving you a hard time about it.” 

She chuckled. “Every year.” 

They were interrupted in their banter by Abby exclaiming, “Mommy, Mommy! We found one!” 

“You did?” Donna asked in delight. Abby nodded, pointing to a 6-foot fir tree that was approximately as tall as their living room ceiling. 

“Sweetheart, I think we need a tree that’s a little bit smaller.” Donna said, handing Leo to Josh before crouching down next to her daughter. Anna watched the exchange with interest. 

“Why? Isn’t this one pretty?” Abby replied warily. Sensing a meltdown, Donna quickly explained. 

“No, no, it’s beautiful.” Donna reassured Abby. “But don’t you want to put a star on top?” 

Abby’s face lit up, nodding enthusiastically before she began to realize her error. “Oh.” She looked around the surrounding trees, before spotting a smaller one across from the tree they were looking at. “I like that one!” 

“Yeah?” Donna replied. Anna and Matty ran over, fascinated. Leo was busy looking at the twinkling searchlights of the lot. The family surrounded the slightly smaller fir tree. 

“Tree!” Leo said, reaching for the branches. 

“You like this one, buddy?” Josh said, running his fingers through Leo’s blond curls. 

“I like it, too!” Matty chimed in. 

“Well, then I think that makes it unanimous.” Donna said. As they lugged the tree out of the lot, Donna couldn’t help but remember the first tree she and Josh had bought together, back when they were still dating. 

_ December 2006:  _

_ “Donna, it’s cold.”  _

_ “Josh-”  _

_ “I’m serious.”  _

_ “So am I. We actually have a free evening for the first time in forever, and we need to get this done.”  _

_ “And this requires wandering around the parking lot of Lafayette Park at 7:00 at night, looking for something that we’re just gonna throw away later?” Josh laughed. “Honey, I love you, and I appreciate your Christmas spirit, but I didn’t sign up for trudging through a dark forest to find the perfect pine tree to cut down… Are you sure this isn’t illegal?”  _

_ “Okay, first of all, we’re not trudging through a forest. We’re in a very well-lit Christmas tree lot, where it is perfectly legal. Second, we’re buying a pre-cut tree. We’re not cutting one down ourselves.”  _

_ “Why not?”  _

_ “Because I love you, but I’ve seen you with power tools.”  _

_ “I’m perfectly capable of handling tools, Donna. I’m an outdoorsman, remember?”  _

_ “Josh, Josh, Josh.” She said, shaking her head. “You’re missing the entire point of Christmas.”  _

_ Josh looked blank. “Freezing out in the cold to buy a Christmas tree?”  _

_ “No!” Donna said. “Tradition!”  _

_ “Tradition?”  _

_ “Yes, Josh. When I was little, probably until I was 16 or 17, my dad and I would go out and buy a Christmas tree-a real one, not a plastic one. There was a Christmas tree farm in Milwaukee, about an hour away from us, where you could cut down your own tree.” At this, Donna started to fade away on the memories.  _

_ Memories of a blonde ten-year-old girl in a blue parka with fur trim, and her father in his own black winter coat, sometime in the mid-1980s. Of the pair of them walking hand in hand in the forest, talking about anything and everything, while her father would occasionally point out a tree and ask Donna what she thought.  _

_ “Too thin.”  _

_ “Too brown.”  _

_ “Too small.”  _

_ And finally, when Donna had found the perfect tree, her father would cut it down with his power saw. They would tie it to the top of their car and bring it home, where her mother would already have brought up all the lights, tinsel, and ornaments. Her mom would put on a Christmas record (usually Bing Crosby or Burl Ives, though Donna would sometimes succeed in getting her mom to let her put on the Jackson 5) and the three of them would spend the day decorating the tree.  _

_ Josh’s voice brought Donna back to the present. “Donna? You okay there?”  _

_ She nodded. “Just reminiscing.”  _

_ “This tradition stuff is really important to you, isn’t it?” It wasn’t a question.  _

_ “Yeah, it is.” Donna replied.  _

_ “Well, what do you think of this one?”  _

_ She turned a little and gasped quietly. “Josh, it’s perfect!” It was a little smaller than Donna expected, but it was perfect for Josh’s homey apartment.  _

_ Josh grinned. “Good. Now can we please get out of this parking lot? It’s freezing!”  _

_ Donna hit him playfully on the arm, and the pair of them lugged the tree out of the lot.  _

… 

The family brought the tree home, and immediately started to decorate it. 

“Mommy, may I put on the streamers?” Matty asked innocently. 

“That’s tinsel, baby. And yes, you may.” Donna lifted her older son up into her arms so he could hang the tinsel on the higher branches. 

Meanwhile, Josh was simultaneously trying to keep Leo from the breakable ornaments, while also helping the girls hang the non breakable ones. He smiled as he held up a Hawaii ornament. It had been the first ornament they had bought for their new apartment back in 2006. 

“What’s that one, Daddy?” Anna asked. 

“Something I bought for your mom a long time ago.” Josh said, looking over at Donna. He still remembered that vacation as if it had happened yesterday. 

About an hour later, they had just about finished decorating the tree, and Donna asked which of the kids wanted to put on the star. 

“Me! Me!” Anna said. “Please, Mommy? Abby did it last year.” 

“Okay, sure.” Donna replied. Josh easily lifted Anna up to the top of the tree so she could put on the star. Once she had, Donna said, “Okay, who’s ready to take our Christmas photo?” 

The kids nodded eagerly, piling in front of the tree. Donna put her phone on the tripod they had bought for just these types of pictures, then joined her husband and children on the floor, pulling Leo onto her lap. The twins sat in front of their parents, while Josh pulled Matty onto his lap. 

“All right, say, ‘Cheese’!” Donna exclaimed as the flash went off. 

When Donna looked at the picture later, she would later muse to Josh that it was one of the best Christmas card pictures they had ever taken. 

… 

On Christmas Eve, they all got in their pajamas early. They were staying home for Christmas this year, per an arrangement with Donna’s parents (now that the kids were getting older) that they would switch off for Christmas and Easter every year. Donna made hot chocolate and Christmas cookies, which the girls had been more than happy to help with, and they all gathered in the living room, Josh and Donna on the couch and the kids on the floor, watching  _ Elf  _ for the millionth time. It was a tradition they had begun when the twins were younger, and it had continued from there. But unbeknownst to the kids, Josh and Donna had another traditional movie that they had watched nearly every year they were married. 

Once the jazz cover of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” began to play over the credits, Donna walked over to the DVD player and took the DVD out. “Okay, kids. Bedtime.” 

“Aw, Mom!” Three voices protested. 

“Come on, the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner it’ll be Christmas.” 

“Okay.” They agreed begrudgingly, climbing the stairs to their bedrooms. Donna picked a sleeping Leo up off of Josh’s lap and carried him up the stairs. Meanwhile, Josh walked over to their DVD collection, put back  _ Elf,  _ and pulled out their next film- _ Love Actually.  _ He smiled, remembering their first Christmas Eve together. It had been late, they had an early flight to Madison in the morning, and Donna had just the movie to help them relax. 

_ Christmas Eve 2006:  _

_ “‘Love Actually’?” Josh read out. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this.”  _

_ “It only came out a few years ago. It’s a British film.” Donna came to join him on the couch, handing him a mug of hot chocolate.  _

_ “Why am I not surprised that you like something with all English actors?”  _

_ “It’s not all English actors. There’s a couple American actors in there.”  _

_ “Is it a love story?” Josh asked, choking on the heat as he gulped down his first sip.  _

_ “No.”  _

_ “No?”  _

_ “It’s not ‘a’ love story. There’s eight.”  _

_ “Eight?”  _

_ “Josh...come on, I really like this movie.”  _

_ “How many times have you seen it?”  _

_ “Once, twice…”  _

_ “Donna?”  _

_ “Six times?”  _

_ Josh chuckled. “Why am I not surprised?” He put his arm around her shoulders. “Okay, we’ll watch it if that’s what you want.”  _

_ “Really?” Donna said excitedly.  _

_ “Yeah.” Josh said. “It can be a new tradition.”  _

_ Donna smiled at that. “Okay.”  _

_ As the movie began playing, and the narration began over shots of people arriving at Heathrow Airport in London, Josh pulled Donna closer to him and whispered in her ear, “Merry Christmas.”  _

_ “Merry Christmas.” She murmured, resting her head on his shoulder.  _

… 

“Merry Christmas, Donna.” Josh said as they watched the movie in the darkened living room, amid the glowing lights of the Christmas tree. 

“Merry Christmas, Josh.” Donna replied, pulling his face closer so she could kiss him. A quiet Christmas, watching one of their favorite movies, with their kids sleeping upstairs. What could be more traditional than that? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this short story and all the different things I incorporated. Please let me know what you thought, and have a happy holiday! 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! This will only be a couple of chapters-Christmas is next! Please let me know what you thought!


End file.
